An Odd Future — Offbeat Decks for Worlds

By: Zachary Lesage · Posted Posted onAug 20, 2018 at 1:08 PM · 0 Comments

“I’m still a kid in my heart so I have a problem maturing.”

                                            Tyler ‘The Creator’, Odd Future

This quote has stuck with me for years. I use that quote as a reminder to keep my deck building process creative and as a way to keep my passion for the game kindled bright. I took that quote to heart and have ventured into the realm of rogue decks as we quickly approach the 2018 World Championships.

In this article, I will be going over an updated version of my [card name=”Buzzwole” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Celesteela” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”100″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] deck and an interesting [card name=”Hoopa” set=”Shining Legends” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Sceptile” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] deck. The metagame looks like it will be well defined at the World Championships which has inspired me to try and break the format with an odd deck.

What Makes Rogue Decks Viable?

The answer to that question is difficult to portray, but I will give it my best shot. Rogue decks are viable in certain situations that occur by either players overlooking concepts or a metagame becoming stagnant for a decent period of time. After a rogue deck is discovered, it is either turned into a mainstay archetype or it is countered out of the format by minor deck tweaks until it is no longer a threat. Over the history of the game, we have seen a handful of weird decks that have seen success at the World Championships that range from a [card name=”Team Magma’s Groudon” set=”EX Team Magma vs. Team Aqua” no=”9″ c=”name”][/card] deck back in 2004 all the way to a more current [card name=”M Audino-EX” set=”Fates Collide” no=”85″ c=”name”][/card] deck that dominated the 2016 World Championships. If you are interested in reading more about rogue decks, feel free to check out this past article here. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being different as long as you can get the results you were aiming to achieve. When I am personally creating a rogue deck, there are a few categories that I like to check off my list before I consider proceeding further with the deck.

What are the matchups?

[cardimg name=”M Audino-EX” set=”Fates Collide” no=”85″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Similar to the deck having a purpose, you want make sure that your unique deck has what it takes to crush it in the current metagame. While it might be cool to try out a new concept, it also isn’t the best idea to re-invent a wheel that turns out to be just a worse wheel. A recent example of this was [card name=”Zygarde-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”73″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Lycanroc-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] when compared to Buzzwole / Lycanroc-GX. Both of those decks are extremely similar in composition, but Buzzwole / Lycanroc-GX had all around better matchups in that current metagame. Don’t be caught with a slightly worse deck just to be different! You will likely end up regretting your decision. 

Is it consistent enough?

Even though you might have a great idea and the concept works, you need to make sure that you have an engine of some sort that makes your deck run properly. You might have one too many techs in your [card name=”Raichu” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Hydreigon” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”62″ c=”name”][/card] deck, or maybe you run too many different types of Energy in your techy [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] / Garbodor deck. The same thing can be said about using rogue deck engines over the tried and true combination of [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card]. You need to make sure that your deck is able to perform its core strategy at the same rate as its archetype brethren — otherwise, you will be stuck with a bad deck.

The article that I linked above goes over some other tips that will help you see success with your rogue deck. Like any deck, you need to make sure that you are testing it to learn as much you can. If you are looking for more inspiration for your unique deck, you should take it upon yourself to learn from some of the best decks in the metagame. Beyond all of those tips, you want to make sure that you have a strong understanding of the current metagame in order to properly pick a deck. You also want to know what decks stand on top of the metagame and the other decks that lurk in the shadows trying to accomplish the same goal as yours.

My Final Tier List for Worlds

To move from a broad look at rogue decks in general to a more current mindset, I do want to look over our current metagame. In my last article which you can read here, I went over the metagame in a nutshell and wanted to slightly update it. Over the past week, a new deck has emerged on the scene that has a great matchup spread. That deck is [card name=”Banette-GX” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Drampa-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card]. It plays out like an early build of [card name=”Espeon-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM35″ c=”name”][/card], but with much better matchups. Now this isn’t a Banette-GX article, but I did want to add it to my tier list and let you know that it is a real deck.

Tier 1 (Highly Played)

  • Buzzwole / [card name=”Buzzwole-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM69″ c=”name”][/card] / Lycanroc-GX
  • Zoroark-GX / [card name=”Magcargo” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card]
  • Zoroark-GX / Garbodor / Garbodor 
  • [card name=”Rayquaza-GX” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] / Garbodor
  • Rayquaza-GX 
  • Banette-GX / Garbodor / Drampa-GX

Tier 2 (Moderately Played)

  • Zoroark-GX / [card name=”Golisopod-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM62″ c=”name”][/card]
  • Zoroark-GX / Lycanroc-GX
  • Buzzwole-GX / Garbodor 
  • [card name=”Stakataka-GX” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Dusk Mane Necrozma” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM107″ c=”name”][/card]

Tier 3 (Lightly Played)

  • [card name=”Dawn Wings Necrozma-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM101″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card]
  • [card name=”Ultra Necrozma-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card] / Malamar
  • Zoroark-GX / Banette-GX
  • Stakataka-GX / [card name=”Naganadel-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card]
  • [card name=”Yveltal BREAK” set=”Steam Siege” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Mewtwo” set=”Evolutions” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card]
  • [card name=”Volcanion-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY173″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Volcanion” set=”Steam Siege” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card]
  • Hoopa / Mewtwo 
  • [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card]
  • [card name=”Sylveon-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card]

Here we have what is likely the completed metagame for the World Championships. With all of this knowledge in my arsenal, I have gone ahead and created lists for Buzzwole / Celesteela / Garbodor and the freshly minted Hoopa / Sceptile deck.

First and foremost, I want to give a huge shout out to my friend Hunter Butler for coming up with the concept for Hoopa / Sceptile; if it wasn’t for you being an original hoop-guy, I wouldn’t have been able to create this deck. I also need to give a huge shout out to Daniel Altavilla for showing me the ways of playing Hoopa, being there to answer the phone when I would make misplays, and for helping me understand a base list for Hoopa. Lastly, I need to give a shout out to Gabriel Pino for playing Hoopa / Mewtwo / [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] against me in the last round in Columbus to get me back on the Hoopa bandwagon.

Before I go over this devastating Hoopa / Sceptile deck, I do want to go over my Buzzwole / Celesteela / Garbodor deck that I discussed in my last article. I didn’t go over the deck too much, but I did say that I would return to it in more detail once I figured the deck out more.

[premium]

Buzzwole / Celesteela / Garbodor

[decklist name=”Buzzwole / Celesteela / Garbodor / Garbodor Deck” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Buzzwole” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”77″][pokemon amt=”13″]2x [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Trubbish” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”56″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Buzzwole” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”77″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Diancie Prism Star” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”74″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Celesteela” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”100″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”34″]4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”123″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Mysterious Treasure” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Beast Ring” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Special Charge” set=”Steam Siege” no=”105″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]3x [card name=”Shrine of Punishment” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”143″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”3″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”13″]4x [card name=”Rainbow Energy” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Fighting Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”120″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Strong Energy” set=”Fates Collide” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Beast Energy Prism Star” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”117″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

I went over the strategy of this deck in my last article, but I will go over it again for those of you who are looking for a refresher course. The goal of this deck is to use [card name=”Shrine of Punishment” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card] like an extended damage modifier because it can damage all of your opponent’s Pokemon-GX/EX. You want to use that card in combination with [card name=”Diancie Prism Star” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Strong Energy” set=”Fates Collide” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Beast Energy Prism Star” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card] to pack a huge punch. Beyond smashing your opponent into a pulp with [card name=”Buzzwole” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card], you can hit hard with [card name=”Celesteela” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”100″ c=”name”][/card] when you and your opponent have a combined total of six Prize cards. While all of this is going on, [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] can stop your opponent in their tracks with its Ability-locking Garbotoxin. Lastly, you have [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] that will punish your opponent for playing Item cards with its Trashalanche attack. In a deck like this, you have so many options and plays to choose from that you should always be able to stay in the game. Additionally, beyond a single copy of [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] for consistency, this deck is a completely single-Prize deck. That means that we should stay in games longer, which means that Shrine of Punishment will pile on more damage per game.

Popular Matchups

In this section of the article, I will go over most of the matchups for the tier-one decks in the current format. With the first major event to feature Celestial Storm being the first day of Worlds, these matchups are based on the standardized lists that I used in my testing.

Buzzwole / Lycanroc-GX — Slightly Favourable

While both of these decks may seem similar, they function different enough from each other. Beyond both of us using Buzzwole to attack, we have the added help of getting potential chip damage from Shrine of Punishment if our opponent plays down a few Pokemon-GX/EX. Furthermore, we can use Garbotoxin to stop our opponent from using Diancie Prism Star, [card name=”Octillery” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Lycanroc-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card]. We can also use Garbodor with Trashalanche to hit our opponent hard for playing a few too many Item cards. The best course of action is to simply attack and lock our opponent.

Zoroark-GX / Magcargo / Oranguru — Slightly Favourable to Even

[cardimg name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

This matchup seems great on paper since their board will always have at least one [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] and one Tapu Lele-GX on it. This is the perfect opportunity to abuse Shrine of Punishment to help get those Pokemon-GX to a more manageable amount of HP so that you can clean up with Buzzwole. The only issue here is that you will run into disruption cards and an [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] that will loop them with Resource Management. Just go full force ahead with Buzzwole, Shrine of Punishments, and Garbodor with Garbotoxin to make the most out of this matchup.

Zoroark-GX / Garbodor — Slightly Favourable to Even

Similar to the above matchup, [card name=”Buzzwole” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] loves seeing Zoroark-GX decks because of its Fighting-type Weakness. Couple that with damage modifiers, Shrine of Punishment, and Garbodor with Garbotoxin for a lethal combination against that deck. We do have to worry about their Garbodor with Trashalanche because they will be able to hit us for Weakness, but that is more an eye-for-an-eye because we run the same card in our deck. Like most Zoroark-GX matchups, they have a loose strategy that can adapt for most situations, so you will have to be able to adapt to any of the tactics they try to use against you.

Rayquaza-GX / Garbodor — Favourable

This matchup is pretty straightforward. [card name=”Rayquaza-GX” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] will typically discard Item cards with its Stormy Winds Ability and we can capitalize on that by attacking with Trashalanche. In the meantime, we want to use Shrine of Punishment to provide chip damage against this deck because they do not currently play any card to take away Stadium cards reliably. Additionally, we can hit hard with Buzzwole while we are letting them discard their Item cards to try and take some precious Prize cards in the process. Since we play a Garbodor with Garbotoxin of our own, we don’t need to worry too much about their Ability-locking strategy. 

Rayquaza-GX — Favourable

This matchup follows almost the exact same strategy as Rayquaza-GX / Garbodor. The only difference between those lists is the addition of Garbodor with Garbotoxin. You want the same strategy of chip damage with Buzzwole, keep Shrine of Punishment in play, and hit hard with Trashalanche. Because Rayquaza-GX exclusively uses double-Prize attackers, we have a leg up on them by playing exclusively single-Prize attackers. As long as you play the slow and steady game, you should have a strong matchup on your hands here.

Banette-GX / Garbodor / Drampa-GX — Slightly Unfavourable

The newcomer on the block and one of the most mysterious decks heading into the World Championships is also our worst matchup out of the top decks. The deck is predominately Psychic-type and [card name=”Banette-GX” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] goes even further by having a Fighting-type Resistance.

When I am looking at any frustrating matchup, my goal is to look at the positive aspects of the matchup instead of the negatives to try and formulate the best plan of attack. That deck does play a handful of Pokemon-GX which means that [card name=”Shrine of Punishment” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card] should put in some serious work, and we do have attackers in our deck that can fight back with gusto. We can punish them for playing Item cards by using [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] with Trashalanche and we can hit hard with [card name=”Celesteela” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”100″ c=”name”][/card] when the time is right. I also don’t want to discount Buzzwole because it can do quite a bit of damage with Shrine of Punishment, [card name=”Diancie Prism Star” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Strong Energy” set=”Fates Collide” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Beast Energy Prism Star” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card]. Once you get past the glaring Psychic Weakness on most of your Pokemon, you will see that you are not instantly out of the game, but the road to victory will be difficult.

Hoopa / Sceptile

[decklist name=”Hoopa / Sceptile Deck” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Hoopa” set=”Shining Legends” no=”55″][pokemon amt=”12″]4x [card name=”Hoopa” set=”Shining Legends” no=”55″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Sceptile” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”10″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Treecko” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”8″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”34″]4x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Skyla” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”112″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Max Elixir” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Shining Legends” no=”68″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”142″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Special Charge” set=”Steam Siege” no=”105″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”123″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”132″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”14″]6x [card name=”Darkness Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”121″ c=”deck2″ amt=”6″][/card]4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Shining Legends” no=”69″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Grass Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Rainbow Energy” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/energy][/decklist][cardimg name=”Hoopa” set=”Shining Legends” no=”55″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Deck Strategy

This deck is an evolution of the Attacking [card name=”Hoopa” set=”Shining Legends” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] decks that tore up Portland Regionals a few months back. This new version of the deck plays [card name=”Sceptile” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] to deal with Ultra Beast Pokemon. The past few tournaments have seen many decks utilize Ultra Beast Pokemon such as [card name=”Buzzwole” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Buzzwole-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM69″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Dawn Wings Necrozma-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM101″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Ultra Necrozma-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card], and we can see that [card name=”Stakataka-GX” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] looks promising heading forward too. The best of the bunch is Buzzwole and that has always been an issue for Hoopa because we had no concrete way to stop a non-GX attacker before, but now we have that option.

The deck is built on the premise that there are plenty of EX/GX decks in the metagame and Sceptile handles a few more of the outliers. Your goal during the game is to isolate threats by attacking with Hoopa or Sceptile to set up your board to a position where you are invulnerable to their remaining Pokemon. I would also like to note that Sceptile is a strong attacker in this deck. Your Energy will stay in play longer due to Hoopa being immune to Pokemon-GX/EX, making Sceptile’s Powerful Storm attack quite, well, powerful.

As long as you get your board set up and you run into a deck that plays EX/GX/Ultra Beast Pokemon, you should have a positive matchup. The only issues that this deck has in the current metagame are [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] with Garbotoxin which shuts off our immunity, and the occasional disruption deck that takes away a few too many resources. Beyond that, this deck looks like it has some decent matchups heading into the World Championships.

Popular Matchups

The system I used for the Buzzwole / Garbodor / Celesteela matchup section will apply here as well: I will be going over most of tier-one matchups, and my matchup explanations will be based on the standardized lists that I used in my testing.

Buzzwole / Lycanroc-GX — Favourable

This is the matchup that the Hoopa / Sceptile was created for. If we are able to set up a Sceptile, their only option is to attack the Sceptile with [card name=”Lycanroc-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] or use [card name=”Rockruff” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Diancie Prism Star” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] against Hoopa. On top of struggling to attack your Pokemon, you are attacking their Pokemon to take away threats. Keep your opponent from attacking your Pokemon, don’t bench too many Pokemon that they can attack, and isolate upcoming threats.

Zoroark-GX / Magcargo / Oranguru — Even

This matchup would be strictly positive, but the inclusion of disruption cards in their deck makes this matchup fairly murky to conclude. The match usually consists of the [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Magcargo” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] deck being forced to use Resource Management to nab back Energy denial cards to stop the Hoopa from attacking. At that point, the Hoopa player is forced to grab their own Oranguru to use Resource Management Oranguru to grab back those fallen resources. Some of you might be brave to attack into an Oranguru, but that can open a world of [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card], Energy denial, and Pokemon that are immune to attacks. Unless a player comes down with a case of dead hands, this matchup will likely be a forced tie in tournament.

Zoroark-GX / Garbodor — Slightly Unfavourable

Similar to the above matchup, we should have a great matchup against any Zoroark-GX variant because they exclusively play with Pokemon-GX, but this deck presents the issue of Garbotoxin. I was thinking about playing [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] to get around Garbotoxin, but Zoroark-GX will be able to consistently reactive Garbotoxin with its high Tool count and [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] to grab back those Tools. The best thing that you can do in this matchup is to Knock Out the [card name=”Trubbish” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card] and Garbodor that your opponent plays down. Once you get past those threats, you will be immune to their Pokemon-GX/EX once again.

Rayquaza-GX / Garbodor — Even to Slightly Unfavorable

[cardimg name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

This matchup is extremely similar to the above Zoroark-GX / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] deck because it is a GX-based deck that has thrown a Garbodor with Garbotoxin in it to deal with random things, which unfortunately includes our Hoopa / Sceptile deck. Try to execute the same strategy as the above matchup: isolate Trubbish as quickly as possible because that means that we might be able to prevent our opponent from getting a Garbodor up and running. The only reason why this matchup still has any hope beyond that is because they might discard their Pokemon Tool cards, Trubbish, and Garbodor by using [card name=”Rayquaza-GX” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card]’s Ability Stormy Winds.

Rayquaza-GX — Extremely Favorable

Finally, a matchup that is simple because our opponent has no proper out to dealing with [card name=”Hoopa” set=”Shining Legends” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card]. This is an example of a GX-based deck that Hoopa will just block Pokemon-GX without worries. You don’t want to worry about setting up non-Hoopa Pokemon. Once you have a Hoopa that is powered up, you want to attack over and over again until you win. Your opponent should not be able to attack you in this matchup at all beyond their [card name=”Latias Prism Star” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card].

Banette-GX / Garbodor / Drampa-GX — Even to Slightly Unfavourable

Why did this deck have to be created so close to Worlds and include a copy of [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] in it? I feel like a broken record here, but this is another matchup where you want to isolate Trubbish and Garbodor with Garbotoxin so that your opponent can’t attack you. The one thing that you have going for you is that [card name=”Banette-GX” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] has a Darkness Weakness and that Hoopa has a Psychic Resistance. If you keep your Item cards in your discard pile low and take care of Trubbish, this matchup is slightly more manageable. 

Almost There

That’s it for today PokeBeach readers! Hopefully this article gave you a decent idea on the boundaries of the metagame. While I am slightly nervous to play a rogue deck for day two of Worlds, I feel like it might give me the best shot at becoming the World Champion. There is a weekend of Celestial Storm-legal League Challenges and League Cups before Worlds, so at least all of you at home will have a chance to dive into our new metagame. If you are ever looking to follow me on my journey as a professional Pokemon player, follow me on my Twitter @zlesage_pokemon.

Best of luck in Nashville,

Zach

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